BP Chats

The Red Sox still technically have Ryan Dempster under contract, right? The rotation is going to be PawSox rotation soon. I mean Peavy is balking.(Dylan from MA)

No, Dempster is semi-retired. I don't know exactly how it works off the top of my head, but he's not in the Sox organization anymore. Workman is already up and I believe Webster or RDLR is starting tomorrow. Peavy doesn't look great, but he'll get more time to figure it out. (Ben Carsley)

Do you have any good under the radar/ bounceback SPs to target in keeper leagues?(Brandon from Missouri )

R.A. Dickey had a stronger second half and seemed to adjust to the American League Post All Star. He won't do what he did with the Mets, but is a decent option next year. Ian Kennedy struggled all year, but a full year at Petco will definitely help. Ryan Dempster was terrible for the Red Sox, but a change of scenery could help. His high whiff rate makes him valuable in fantasy even if the other stats don't coalesce. (Mike Gianella)

Ryan Dempster, returning to his numbers in the NL or is he more likely to resemble the mess he was in Texas ?(Grinder from Boston)

Closer to what he did in the NL. Texas isn't an easy place to pitch, and I suspect the program they have over there with their pitchers is easier to implement in Spring Training than it is mid-season. (Mike Gianella)

Shouldn't we be looking more at salary as a major insight into comparing how good two players are going to be? There are probably better examples, but lots of fancy peripheral stats show that Joe Blanton is better than Ryan Dempster. Yet Dempter signed for $26.5 mil./2 yrs. while Blanton only signed for $15 mil./2 yrs. Well, that's all the stats I need, right?(John Carter from Dual: U.S.-Canadian)

Huh. That's ... actually ... very intriguing. Tango has pointed out a few times how Vegas is the best projection system. Might be some aspect of that with player salaries, if we could isolate the numbers from some of the distorting effects of timing, team need, etc. (Sam Miller)

Who's a good buy-low MLB regular for SP this season?(Sara from Tacoma)

I'll give you a few to cater to leagues of a variety of sizes.Hisashi Iwakuma is a sleeper I like a great deal. His high groundball percentage will help him in the transition to Safeco's new ballpark dimensions. Brett Anderson was impressive in his brief return to the hill at the end of last year and is currently a draft value at his current draft position in Mock Draft Central mocks. A few ugly starts to begin Ryan Dempster's time with the Rangers seem to have driven down his value. He'll be fine pitching in Boston and remains an undervalued starter. Chris Tillman enjoyed his first taste of success in the majors last year. He's not as good as his sub-3.00 ERA suggests, but some backlash from those looking at the peripherals may make him a value in AL-only in deep mixed leagues. I think he's capable of improving his underlying stats and staving off some of the regression that would otherwise come from him pitching at the same level this year. (Josh Shepardson)

As a Nationals fan, I hope that Ryan Dempster's refusal to join the Braves is an omen for disappointments in Atlanta for the rest of the season. However, if I were a Braves fan, would you think that I should be upset or relieved that the trade of Randall Delgado didn't go through?(HalfStreet from Fairfax VA)

I analyzed the Dempster deal that now looks like it probably won't happen a couple days ago. My opinion was that Delgado wouldn't have been too high a price to pay, considering the stakes and Delgado's mid-rotation ceiling. That said, while a desire to keep Delgado might not have made sense as a reason not to pull the trigger, it certainly makes sense as a reason to be relieved that the deal didn't go through. (Ben Lindbergh)

My pitchers include Madson, Putz, Moore, Scherzer and Beachy. At the auction are Halladay, Greinke, Hamels, Dan Hudson, Felix, CJ Wilson, CC, Lester, Gallardo and Strasburg. I have plenty of money - who do you think is the best complement to what I have on hand?(Kyran from Albany, NY)

That's a solid core, so grabbing a guy like Hamels, Greinke, or Gallardo could be enough if you add one or two more guys in the Scherzer/Beachy area, a Ryan Dempster or Ted Lilly type. (Derek Carty)

Looking for all the help I can get, who should I keep in a non strikeout fantasy league, Jered Weaver or Ryan Dempster? Also, what's your best guess for how Andy LaRoche does this year? Thanks!(Adam from Rochester)

Yes. All sorts of people can use a change of scenery, and if all they want is for him to succeed in relief, he can do that. The question is, could he return to his former promise as a starter, and there, it'll be interesting to see. Things turned out much better with Ryan Dempster than almost anybody expected, after all. (Christina Kahrl)

Bryan, have you picked up on Jim Hendry's fondness for Notre Dame players? I'm wondering if you think it's beginning to cloud his judgment (i.e. the acquisition of Aaron Heilman)?(Shane from Bucktown)

I brought this up to Paul Mainieri -- coach of LSU, former coach of Notre Dame, who was with the Irish when Heilman and Samardzija and Grant Johnson and the rest went there. Mainieri laughed, and reminded that the connection runs deeper: Paul and Ryan Dempster are still good friends since Dempster committed to ND (ultimately choosing pro ball out of high school), and infields Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot are LSU grads, both of whom Mainieri has become friendly with. Don't be surprised if the Cubs draft a LSU player or two in the upcoming draft ... it's always been a fondness for Mainieri moreso than for Notre Dame. (Bryan Smith)

Everyone talks about players getting huge contracts and regressing, but look at a player like Ryan Dempster. He does not seem to be the type of personality to stop working hard, the same likely cannot be siad for KRod or Burnett, for example. Agreed?(Goose from Chicago)

You think it's about not working hard? Ok. No, I disagree. (Will Carroll)

That Harden trade just looks brilliant right now, doesn't it? But does that rotation really scare opposing hitters? Harden can be lights out, Dempster's going to get Cy votes, and Lilly's a good lefty, but it's not Webb-Haren-Johnson. It's not Shields-Garza-Kazmir, at least for dominance. It's not Beckett-Lester-Matsuzaka. It's not Sabathia-Sheets-whoever. (Will Carroll)

Any concerns about Ryan Dempster in the second half? It's been some time since he's pitched a full season, and he's also pitching out of his mind right now. What do you expect out of him the rest of the year?(dmandell from Portland)

Well, he certainly looks set up for a fall just because the innings are piling up. I will say this, Dempster is in the best shape of his career. He really worked hard in the winter to prepare for a much heavier workload. However, it's a lot to ask a guy to increase his innings pitched by as much as Dempster will be ask. I think there will certainly some regression. (John Perrotto)

Are you skeptical about Ryan Dempster's hot start? He appears to have the "stuff" to perform as a high-level starter, but some of her peripheral stats are a bit alarming.(mlochi from san francisco, ca)

Early on, his K/W ratio wasn't great and his BABIP was so low that you worried about it leveling off. But his K/W has gotten better, so I'm encouraged. He's been fantastic and if it continues, it's a huge boost for this rotation. He came into the season in fantastic physical shape and was really committed to making this work. I've been very impressed. (Len Kasper)

WOOOOO Baseball! BP2k8 arrived on Tuesday. There's a full slate of spring games, including a start by Ryan Dempster. How Psyched are you for the new season?(Henry from Chicago)

Very. In a lot of ways, this might be the bestest spring ever. There's a lot of internal sentiment that this might be our best edition of the annual yet, I expect that I'm going to see some Cactus League action, and I'm back in the best city in the country, the one we're both in. If the Sox are doing a Dog Day, I can't wait to take the dingo to a ballgame, although I can't say for certain if my favorite Cubs fan would set foot in New Comisk^H^H^H^Hthe Cell and come with. (Christina Kahrl)

In 03 when the Cubs were 5 outs from the World Series, it was believed that they had one of the best minor league systems in addition to a pretty good major league team, but within a couple of years both the major league team and the minor league system were in disarray. I know they made the playoffs last year and have a decent chance this year, but have you ever seen another organization fall so far so fast?(Jim from Wrigley Field)

I feel your pain, Jim, I'm a fellow Cubs fan. I was at the Prior-Maddux start that postseason, and I was heart broken when they didn't win it. But I'm not sure I agree that they've fallen too far -- I mean, what are they, one of about 3 teams likely to win the NL pennant? Obviously the farm system has a ways to go, but Wilken is the right guy in place to do it. And there is a lot of youth on that roster -- Soto, Pie, Hill, Marmol -- from that 2003 minor league system. They've done a nice job, but I'll say this: Ryan Dempster needs to be right. (Bryan Smith)

The back end of the Cubs rotation... You have two duds (Marquis, Dempster), the aging prodigal son (Lieber) , the youngster in Lou's doghouse (Marshall), and the unproven guys (Gallagher, Kevin Hart, maybe even Neil Cotts or Samardjiza but unlikely). Who should win and who will win out the last two spots?(Hank from Lincoln Park)

First, let's take Jeff Samardjiza out of the discussion. He's more likely to be the Bears' flanker next year than the Cubs' fifth starter. Out of that group, I actually sort of like Ryan Dempster, and I think Jon Lieber should be perfectly adequate. (Nate Silver)

Is there any reason to be happy about having Jon Lieber vying for a spot in the Cubs rotation? Should I just be happy that the Cubs don't have to fret over saving the three million or so Lieber could earn this year? Cortisol leads to unsightly belly fat after all.(Brian Gallagher from Evanston, IL)

I sort of touch on this in the TA that just went live--it'll still be there when we wrap up in a few hours ;) --but the nicest thing to say is that it gives them depth, and it might spare them from having to take the experiment of returning Ryan Dempster to a rotation all that far. My disappointment is that Lieber's upside is pretty minimal, and he's no more the right answer to that question over who starts a fourth game in a postseason than Marquis was (and is). (Christina Kahrl)

PITCHf/x Pitcher Profile

Although he has not thrown an MLB pitch in 2014, Ryan Dempster threw 19,922 pitches that were tracked by the PITCHf/x system between 2007 and 2013, including pitches thrown in the MLB Regular Season, the MLB Postseason and Spring Training. In 2013, he relied primarily on his Fourseam Fastball (90mph) and Slider (84mph), also mixing in a Splitter (82mph) and Cutter (88mph). He also rarely threw a Sinker (89mph).